The deal also includes KAJA, the Telemundo affiliate in Corpus Christi.

"The acquisition ... allows us to go deeper in new markets with the addition of three new duopolies, including two with Big Four combinations," Brian Lawlor, Scripps' president of local media, said in a statement.

Other stations acquired in the transaction are:

WLEX, the NBC affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky

KOAA, the NBC affiliate in Colorado Springs, Colorado

KATC, the ABC affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana

KSBY, the NBC affiliate in Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, California

KPAX and KAJJ, a CBS affiliate in Missoula, Montana

KTVQ, a CBS affiliate in Billings, Montana

KXLF/KBZK, the CBS affiliate in Butte-Bozeman, Montana

KRTV, the CBS affiliate, and KTGF, the NBC affiliate, in Great Falls, Montana

KTVH, the NBC affiliate, and KXLH, the CBS affiliate, in Helena, Montana

KRIS has been broadcasting since 1956.

The acquisition, for $521 million, brings to 51 the number of stations Scripps now owns in 36 markets.

Cordillera announced it would also sell its station in Tucson, Arizona to Quincy Media Inc.

The transaction does not include KZTV, Corpus Christi's CBS affiliate, which is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. That station is operated through a shared services agreement by Evening Post Industries, a Cordillera subsidiary.

The sales are pending federal regulatory approvals, but Cordillera said it expects both deals to be completed by close of first quarter 2019.

Scripps for years also owned the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, along with 13 other newspapers.

JMG was created in April 2015 after Scripps and Journal Communications Inc. merged their local TV and radio operations and spun off their newspapers into an independent, publicly traded company based in Milwaukee.

The Gannett Co. acquired the Caller-Times and the other JMG properties in April 2016.